The present invention relates to a product treating system including a conveyer for transporting products through a treatment area, for example an oven for drying or setting a coating that was applied to the products at a treatment station.
Overhead conveyers are particularly advantageous in this environment. A continuous chain driven overhead conveyer has been used to bring products into a drying oven and pass them through a serpentine path within the drying oven so as to maximize the amount of time that they are in the drying oven for the particular oven size. It is well recognized that the products, in such a system, stay in the oven or treatment area for a relatively long period of time, as compared to the amount of time they may stay within a loading or unloading station or at a spray booth, or the like. It is desirable to construct the oven of a smallest size as possible under the circumstances, to not only save the initial cost of the oven, but reduce the square footage plant requirement of the oven and reduce the heat loss from the oven. Similar problems relate to other treatment-type enclosures or areas other than an oven.
The present invention uses an overhead conveyer of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,511 issued May 20, 1980 to Uhing, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,164,104 issued Jan. 5, 1965 to Hunt, and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,280 issued Nov. 26, 1974 to Ohrnell. By reference, the disclosure of these U.S. patents is incorporated herein in their entirety as a disclosure of the overhead conveyer (drive shaft, bearings, drive motor, transmission and carriage) of the present invention.